Sheffield shooting victim identified; police seek 'person of interest'

The search is continuing for a "person of interest" in the shooting death of a mother of four in Sheffield on Thursday. Sheffield police Lt. Aaron Bober said the U.S. Marshals Service is "actively seeking" 34-year-old James Lavern Kimbrough, of Ashland Avenue in Lorain. Police are calling Kimbrough "a person of interest" in the shooting death of 24-year-old Milenna Lopez of Lorain, whose identity was confirmed by Sheffield police on Friday. Lopez was shot and killed in her car outside the McDonald's on Detroit Road in Sheffield on Thursday. A 911 caller tried to give her first aid but she died at the scene. Kimbrough was being sought for questioning, though his whereabouts remained unknown as of 3 p.m. Friday, Bober said. His car was found abandoned in Lorain on Thursday and was seized by police, Bober said. Lopez was a mother of four children, including at least one child she shared with Kimbrough, Bober said. Lorain County Coroner Dr. Frank Miller told The Chronicle that her autopsy was scheduled to take place Friday morning. Family spokesperson Lisette Gracia said the family was grieving and still processing Lopez's death when reached by phone on Friday. Lopez had two domestic violence protection orders against Kimbrough, according to copies obtained by The Chronicle on Friday. Both were filed in Lorain Municipal Court on Oct. 18, and ordered Kimbrough to have no contact with Lopez, to stay more than 500 feet away from her and also from her home, school, workplace and other locations she might be. Possessing firearms or ammunition also would violate the protection order, which were issued and signed by Municipal Judge Mark Mihok. Bober said there is currently not a murder warrant out for Kimbrough, who does have other warrants out for his arrest. He said authorities would prefer Kimbrough surrenders himself peacefully and safely. Emergency calls to 911 on Thursday portrayed a frantic scene around the restaurant. One 911 called described to an emergency dispatcher someone in a black Chevrolet Impala shooting at a white GMC Acadia, then fleeing south on Abbe Road. "Send LifeCare, send whoever you have," the caller told a dispatcher in an audio recording of a 911 call obtained from Sheffield police by The Chronicle. "Please, there's got to be a paramedic or somebody in the area." The caller could not describe the shooter, except to say they were parked right next to Lopez's car, stuck a hand holding a gun out the passenger side window and shot into her car. Kimbrough has a lengthy criminal record in Lorain County, including prior arrests as recently as Oct. 18 for aggravated burglary, felonious assault, disrupting public service, domestic violence and unlawful restraint by the Lorain Police Department. His record also includes prior arrests for domestic violence, probation violations, failure to comply with the order or signal of police, violating protection orders, criminal damaging, endangering children, resisting arrest, obstructing official business, and a menacing by stalking protection order dating back to May 2018. Kimbrough is described in Lorain County Jail records as being 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighing 185 pounds. Anyone with information on the case is asked to contact Sheffield police at (440) 949-6155. The Chronicle has requested additional records of Kimbrough's past arrests and criminal record and any incidents involving him and Lopez. Thursday's shooting was the third homicide in Lorain County in six days. Dominique Anderson, 28, of Elyria, was shot and killed on Kerstetter Way in downtown Elyria on Jan. 1. Rolando Pilson, 40, of Elyria, was shot and killed in the 100 block of Brace Avenue on Jan. 4, an incident in which a second man was shot and wounded, and treated at University Hospitals Elyria Medical Center. The shootings are not related. Bober confirmed that Thursday's killing also is not related to a non-fatal shooting at another fast food restaurant in Elyria the day before. "This was isolated," he said. In that case, a woman was shot in the arm near the Taco Bell on West Avenue shortly before 10:30 p.m. Wednesday. Elyria police said she was and treated at UH Elyria. All three shootings in Elyria remain under investigation by Elyria detectives, Police Chief William Pelko said Friday. Reporters Kevin Martin and Carissa Woytach contributed to this story. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him @daveobrienCT on Twitter.